The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The same oil-lamp teaching as SN 12.53, compressed from four movements into two by folding the simile directly into each statement
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the same content as SN 12.53, more tightly compressed
Why this discourse
This discourse carries exactly the same content as SN 12.53 — the oil lamp fed by occasional oil and a tended wick, or left to go out once its fuel runs dry, illustrating craving's growth or cessation depending on attention — but restructures how that content is delivered. Where SN 12.53 gave a direct statement of the teaching first and only then introduced the simile as a second, separate movement, this discourse folds the simile directly into the opening statement from the start, collapsing what took four movements in SN 12.53 into just two. The change is purely a matter of arrangement: no content is added or removed, only the order and grouping in which the same material is presented.
Reading guide
The same content, a tighter arrangement
Every element present in SN 12.53 — the fetters framing, the oil lamp, the periodic feeding, the extinguishing through withheld fuel — reappears here unchanged; only the sequencing is different.
Simile folded in from the start, not added afterward
SN 12.53 states the teaching plainly, then restates it a second time with the simile attached; this discourse opens directly with "suppose an oil lamp," building the simile into the very first sentence rather than introducing it as a separate step.
Four movements collapsed into two
SN 12.53's structure runs arising-alone, arising-with-simile, cessation-alone, cessation-with-simile; this discourse compresses that into arising-with-simile-already-included and cessation-with-simile-already-included, halving the number of distinct movements.
A second confirmed instance of this specific compression style
This same fold-the-simile-in-from-the-start compression reappears later in this chapter for the great tree simile as well, in SN 12.56 relative to SN 12.55 — a recognizable pattern for how a "(2nd)" discourse in this chapter typically relates to its predecessor.
Arrangement changed, substance untouched
Because no doctrinal content is gained or lost between the two discourses, this pairing demonstrates that this chapter's redactors treated the four-part and two-part arrangements as equally valid ways of presenting the identical teaching, not as different teachings in their own right.
Key terms
telañca paṭicca vaṭṭiñca paṭicca telappadīpo jhāyeyya — “suppose an oil lamp depended on oil and a wick to burn” — the same simile as SN 12.53, now opening the discourse directly.
tadāhāro tadupādāno ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ jaleyya — “fed and fuelled by that, the oil lamp would burn for a long time” — the standard formula for what sustains the simile's image.
na kālena kālaṁ telaṁ āsiñceyya na vaṭṭiṁ upasaṁhareyya — “no-one would pour oil in and adjust the wick from time to time” — the negated version of SN 12.53's maintenance formula, opening this discourse's cessation half.
purimassa ca upādānassa pariyādānā aññassa ca anupahārā anāhāro nibbāyeyya — “as the original fuel is used up and no more is added, the oil lamp would be extinguished due to not being fed” — the same extinguishing formula as SN 12.53.
saṁyojaniyesu… dhammesu — “things that tighten the fetters” — the same framing as SN 12.53, carried over unchanged.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, suppose an oil lamp depended on oil and a wick to burn. And from time to time someone would pour oil in and adjust the wick. Fed and fuelled by that, the oil lamp would burn for a long time. In the same way, there are things that tighten the fetters. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, your craving grows. Craving is a requirement for grasping. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.
§2Suppose an oil lamp depended on oil and a wick to burn. And no-one would pour oil in and adjust the wick from time to time. As the original fuel is used up and no more is added, the oil lamp would be extinguished due to not being fed. In the same way, there are things that tighten the fetters. When you concentrate on the drawbacks of these things, your craving ceases. When craving ceases, grasping ceases. … That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
How does this discourse's content compare to SN 12.53's?
Correct: A. No content added or removed, only the sequencing changed.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse open, unlike SN 12.53?
Correct: A. The simile built into the opening sentence rather than introduced afterward.
Question 3 of 10
How many movements does this discourse compress SN 12.53's four movements into?
Correct: A. Arising-with-simile and cessation-with-simile, each already combined.
Question 4 of 10
Where else in this chapter does this same compression style reappear?
Correct: A. A recognizable pattern for how a "(2nd)" discourse in this chapter relates to its predecessor.
Question 5 of 10
What does this pairing with SN 12.53 demonstrate?
Correct: A. Arrangement changed, substance untouched.
Question 6 of 10
What determines whether craving grows or ceases in this discourse?
Correct: A. The same lever as SN 12.52 and SN 12.53, unchanged by the compression.
Question 7 of 10
How does the lamp go out in this discourse's cessation half?
Correct: A. The same extinguishing-through-absence formula as SN 12.53.
Question 8 of 10
What framing vocabulary does this discourse share with SN 12.53?
Correct: A. Carried over unchanged from SN 12.53, distinguishing it from SN 12.52's grasping framing.
Question 9 of 10
Who is the sole speaker in this discourse?
Correct: A. No interlocutor or visiting figure appears.
Question 10 of 10
Where does the Buddha deliver this teaching?
Correct: A. The consistent setting shared with most of this chapter's discourses.
